Among a Crowd of Faces
by miraimisu
Summary: She glanced at the monster before her; his eyes pierced knives into her soul, made her terrified and lost in that sea of endless red and brutality, his wounds all but invisible– yet she had never seen a being so beautiful, so inviting. It didn't take much more for her to fall, too.


**Summary:** _she glanced at the monster before her; his eyes pierced knives into her soul, made her terrified and lost in that sea of endless red and brutality, his wounds all but invisible– yet she had never seen a being so beautiful, so inviting. It didn't take much more for her to fall, too._

 **Rating:** T because it's Bakugou and BNHA. _Non AU._

 **Word count:** *drum roll* 21,181 words. Sweet kacchako hell, everyone goodbye. Don't feel intimidated though, it's easy to read (I think)

 **Author's note:** LOOK AT THIS MESS GUYS IT'S KINDA decent? Like for it being my first try it's pretty damn decent. I'm a usual fanfic writer but this people's dynamic is so unique and working with Bakugou is so delightful! I'll definitely write more about him because he's an awesome character and making him develop is all kinds of fun. Forgive me if there are any mistakes tho, I'm new here so I'm not used to his character.

 **Microsoft Word don't fucking dare eat words here.**

* * *

When she told him to spar with her, he barked at her.

"Could you at least give me a human response, Bakugou? I deserve to be treated as such."

The aforementioned looked at her, his everlasting glare piercing her soul. Of course, she didn't give it up– she never gave it a rest. Her flashiness, her whole glittery talk and just, just herself. She never took a hint to leave him alone, that's why he was frowining at her and mentally kicking her out the room! "What the fuck Uraka? I'm not a damn fighting trainer. Why in hell would I even say yes?"

"Don't put this as if I was obligating you to do it. After all, I'm not in for your personality either." she crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "I was hoping you'd be up for the challenge."

He laughed hysterically at her statement. "Don't make me fucking laugh, roundface. I have better things to do than hang out with you."

She slammed her hand on his table. "It'll be benefitting for you as well, you ass. I don't think there'll be anybody else willing to spar with you given your foul attitude and short temper." he was about to spit in her family's thombstone when she spoke again, her tone as clear as ever. "Besides, I think you'd be interested in some things I have learned at Gunhead."

That got his interest, but if it sparked anything else it went unnoticed. He smirked with his beast teeth gleaming. "And what fucking tricks did the–"

She literally grabbed his arms, took him out of his seat and slammed his whole body behind her. His weight never touched ground nonetheless, as she held him one inch above the tiled floor of the empty classroom. "What about that?"

He had been shockingly impressed, both by the notion of almost being knocked unconscious by _fucking Uraraka_ , and the fact that he didn't even see it coming. His breath fanned on the floor. "Not completely surprised, I already knew you had this damn thing in you. But fuck, it wasn't that bad."

He hit the ground a moment later with her low murmur. Bakugou was on his feet shortly after. "It takes a fucking ton more to shit on me during a fight."

"I had the _pleasure_ of fighting with you during the Sports Festival. Maybe you should be aware of what you're going against instead of bragging."

His brain went on an instant rampage. "The fuck was that Uraraka!? Provoking me won't do any damn good to you, bitch!"

She turned around and waved at him. "Try not to set yourself on fire, will you? If I'm ever winning, it'd like it to be in fair conditions. Having you marred in wounds won't do any good."

He stomped over her, closing the door she was opening to get the hell away from him. "I could win you even with no fucking legs, you damn bubblehead!"

"I very much doubt it. But we could try someday." she pulled him back and made her way out of the room. "See you tomorrow, Bakogou!"

"Whatever, angelface."

Unbeknownst to both of them, a part of him had been waiting for a retake on their battle, too.

* * *

Bakugou Katsuki was a weird thing, that psychopath. His ashen hair, face constantly washed in anger and endless fury and a pair of hands that could kill an entire kingdom if he so desired. His arms, constantly flexing in the best angles, muscular, born to destroy and never to cure. His teeth, clenched, fangs showing. He was the best imitation of a best if there ever was one.

His mannerisms during battling were akin to a monster hunting a prey in a vicious, unstoppable loop of destruction and brutality. During his trainings he would be incredibly self-pressuring and demanding, hence his constant ambitions that may always look a bit too demanding to anyone's liking.

During training with Uraraka, though – his brutality there was a whole new level, another story. She wouldn't have it another way.

"What the fuck are you trying to pull this time!?" he fired another explosion at his landing prey. As soon as she touched him with her nerd-ass quirk, he was aware that he was 70% done for. "Stop playing around, shit!"

Uraraka got up again, brushing a few of her long bangs aside for better view on her enemy. "Stop the talk and land a strong hit on me, jerk!" of course she was purposefully provoking him, after all training with him when he's not giving its all was meaningless.

"You're fucking done for, bitch!"

She quickly activated her quirk when he was a pair of meters away, aware of the nausea factor when she was in mid-air for long. However, her lack of momentum made her just float in midair and she needed a goddamn impulse so she could propel to a safe distance from him. His explosion boomed under her and took her forward thanks to the waves in the air, and safely landed a few feet away from her persecutor. As soon as she was touching the ground, he was ready to aim at her again.

Well, Bakugou sure wasn't going easy on her. And it elated her.

Unable to react in time, his next attack sent her flying to a tree, which shook under her hit. Her body slid to the ground, knees quivering. Bakugou sure was a powerhouse, but she sure wouldn't give up without a proper fight. He had the decency to stop a second for her while she breathed in for a second, her muscles steeling under pressure. She was beaten, hard, but her eyes showed a passion beyond recognition.

Uraraka's legs wobbled, but she still went after him. _"So damn headstrong and stubborn."_ thought the other, activating his quirk once again.

Her voice echoed around him. "I ain't going down so easy, Bakugou."

It was so weird for her to feel completely marred in wounds, severe burns from his explosion and lightheadedness from exhaustion, but not feel any pain. Her determination to put up a good fight, to go to a extreme length just to prove herself as a worthy comrade to her classmates (her heart whispered: _Deku as well_ ). Her head busted with options to avoid his attacks, but there was no way out of this fight if she couldn't attack him and have the upper hand.

Their quirks were opposites. There was no way that an all-range quick against a short-range one would lose. He would be blasting her into oblivion if he landed a few more shots on her. There was no way that was going to happen.

She jumped in mid air again, surrounded in smoke. _"C'mon Uraraka, think! This guy must have some weak point that I can attack…"_ she landed behind him. _"…but which one!?"_

His body lunged forward and cleared the smoke around him, his hand ready to bust her open. She could jump again, but there was no way she would handle another short flight without the nausea. She only had a few seconds to think and find an opening.

He launched another explosion at her, which she dodged with ease this time by moving left. His muscles tensed upon her movement, teeth clenched and- "Bitch, stop running away and hit me with something already!"

His shoulders. Her eyes widened at him and came up with a quick, semisuicidal idea. It was either a _complete_ loss or a victory. It was the only way to go about this. He had been keeping his blows to a minimum height, trying to quake the ground beneath her feet to have her in the air and land a combo. She wouldn't let him have his way this time.

Uraraka cleaned a drop of blood from her mouth. Her vision was blurry, his blonde hair only a cloud of beige in the middle of a clearing. She was panting, heavily. Bakugou knew that she would collapse soon, seeing her standing in such a disorderly state. He scowled at her. "Are you coming at me already? Stop screwing around!"

She snapped. Her feet hurried onwards towards him, teeth clenched together and her face scrunched in a desperate expression, one that Bakugou himself didn't quite like. It was far more deep than the one she put in display during their first match. He was ready to charge his best, finishing shot at her, but he never made it to her.

Uraraka's legs gave up under her, hitting the soil underneath her form. Bakugou stopped in his tracks. This faltering of hers was way too familiar to him. He was almost blown away by how sudden her fall was. The explosive teen internally hoped she would stop being so impossible and she'd give it up already, but another part was expecting her to get up again.

Seeing her quivering in a mess of wounds, almost unresponsive, didn't give him much hopes, though. Her fingers scratched the ground, filling her nails. Her brain was on a rampage, needing to get up but finding herself unable to. _She_ … she couldn't give up.

Her hands grasped the soil and tried to support her weight with shaking limbs. She was heavily panting, with a fuzzy trail of thought as her only thread to carry her through the numbness. Uraraka managed to fully stand up despite her wounds in her body and the burns in her palms, knees struggling to keep her in place. Bakugou watched this in pure disbelief.

"I'm not… a weak girl anymore." the words came out in a raspy gasp. "You might land as many explosions of yours as you wanna, but as you get… stronger, _tougher_ , I will as well."

Bakugou showed a pure smirk of amusement, hand ready to land the last blow on her. "I see you really are not as frail as everyone thinks of you, angelface."

Uraraka grunted and managed to go forward once again, feeling every muscle of her body scream in horror. As soon as he was a few feet away, he had that sadistic grin in his face and the gleam of a soon-to-be victory burning his irises. She wouldn't let him have his way, not this time. She is deadly tired, and he sure knew this seeing how he was charging all he had in a final blow.

His vocal chords vibrated in passion, dancing in the fire.

"DIE ALREADY!" screamed he at the top if his lungs before launching another final explosion at her, dismissing her as she jumped towards him, the fire of the explosion under her burning part of her clothes and her hands landing on his shoulders, pushing her high in a summersault while she joined her fingers.

Time stopped for one, two seconds– his fire hissing without a victim and her presence flying above him. His fingers remained stretched in shock, unbelieving.

His breath got stuck in his throat, feet meters above in the air, feeling weightless. Whimsical wind ruffled his hair and encouraged him to look behind, unprepared. Uraraka struggled to keep him afloat, limbs shaking and her breath labored, coming out in mild gasps.

His eyes widened. "Release!"

Bajugou fell down fast, and he could already feel the pain of his head hitting the hard soil, his muscles painfully tightening upon the crash and his body soaring, hurting because he dismissed her will for a second, didn't launch in the right direction. A second before hitting his demise, his body hovered over the ground for a moment, stopping his momentum and preventing him from meeting horrendous pain. His face ate the mud shortly after.

"Next time," spoke she softly from the ground, as she had also fallen down due to a mix of nausea and exhaustion, "don't think I will go down so easily. You're stronger than me… but I am determined to get better."

He breathed in, deeply. He sat with his legs fully relaxed, facing her. She had fallen to her knees, and seemed to have trouble breathing. However, he couldn't find the heart or energy to help somebody who could be undeniably dangerous with such a supposedly innocent quirk. He had already seen her potential months ago, but it was only more evident now. "Why on hell did you fucking stop me, Uraraka? Shit, you could have gotten me good with that stupid plan of yours."

She gasped for air. "My aim is not to hurt you, I seek training and-"

"I COULD'VE FUCKING HANDLED THAT!" growled he, defensive at someone who underrates him. "Stop thinking I'm a softie who can't handle shit. I can handle your attacks and more, bitch."

She slightly looked behind her, her face not completely visible. "I can handle yours too, you know. I'm no softie, either."

He was fully aware of that, and that's why he was so wary of her steps most of the time. Not like he'd tell her such a stupid, cheesy thing to have her gain trust. He scowled at her, but she interrupted his spit of insults with weak sentences. "You regarded me as such just now by hitting me with such a weak strategy. I'm not afraid of getting scarred."

" **WEAK STRATEGY**? I made a miscalculation, dammit. I don't care if you end up in a fucking hospital bed after this, it's what you came for."

Irony would get him later for such rash statement.

"Then you made a _gross_ miscalculation."

He remained strangely silent, pondering his mistake. When he spoke up, he sounded strained. "I wasn't planning on you getting up after being beaten up so fucking hard, I was just focused on finishing you off. You're pretty fucked up yourself anyway."

Uraraka struggled to get up. "I am aware that this is a win for you. You're almost unscathed and I am heavily injured. But the fact that you didn't go easy on me is a win for me."

He got up and started bawling at her. Bakugou wasn't going to let her bitch about such bullshit. "You actually fucking _won_ , Uraraka! I made a damn mistake, no need to be bitchy about it!" she had actually won fair and square: he made a mistake and that's all, no need to pour salt on the wound. "I can give fucking credit to a decent plan when I see one!"

She didn't answer him straight away, and wavered in her steps. "I don't wanna win a stupid battle with you, Bakugou. I want to build up strength and courage towards opponents who are stronger than me." she stopped for a second. He observed her from behind. "I'm aware of the fact that you are stronger and I respect that."

She brushed some sweat and blood from her face, and bit her following words back. Instead, she focused on hearing his voice from meters behind her.

"Are you sure you're doing it for yourself? Or is there any other fucking reason behind you getting yourself so worked over all this shit?"

Uraraka couldn't believe her ears. She briefly glanced behind her to see him leaving in the opposite direction.

"The day after tomorrow, same place, same hour. Don't be fucking late or you'll be dead for, angelface."

* * *

"Uraraka-san, those wounds in your face look terrifyingly bad! You should have gone to Recovery Girl to have them checked!"

The mentioned backed off a bit, hands shot up. "My bad, Iida-kun! I was exhausted after training and I needed to rest."

As soon as she had entered the classroom, those who spotted her came swarming at her and fussing over her bandages around her legs and face. They weren't so abundant, but the fact that she had taken a hard beating was evident. As soon as the morning sun had washed over her, she woke with the aftermath of nausea, exhaustion and some serious injuries that had been untreated. It hadn't been a very good night, the dark rings under her eyes making it all more evident to the naked eye.

"Gosh, Uraraka, you sure must have trained hard to be so beaten up." Mina patted the girl's forearm and the other shuddered at the gesture. "You should go to Recovery Girl to finish it up faster. It won't do any good to have them uncured during training here in class."

Uraraka scratched the back of her neck, slightly shy with all the attention. She made her way to her desk, aware of Iida's eyes on her. "I'll be fine, I'll go to Recovery Girl as soon as class finishes today."

Deku rushed after her. "You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, Uraraka-san! Training so hard all at once isn't good for your body!" he gestured all over his body. One of his arms had been recently wrapped up in bandages. "Look at me, for example."

Upon seeing his eyes on her, worry overtaking his eyes, she blushed. "Uh, it's not that bad, Deku-kun! I'll be fine! I have tons of work to do to catch up with the top of this class!"

She heard Bakugou curse loudly, colorfully, at the back of the class, and Kirishima laugh immediately after. She sighed. "I'll soon be on match with you, Deku-kun! Just you wait!"

In response, the aforementioned titled his head. "Huh? Be on ma-"

The ring interrupted their conversation, giving place to the class. She could feel a burning glare on her– one she knew very well, but she didn't dare look up from her papers. Her fight with Bakugou had been mentally draining as well as physically, and she was afraid of what he'd come up with next time they trained. But, was he really training when it came to her, though?

Uraraka looked at him from the back of the class, just after his eyes left her. He didn't seem by far as tired and bruised as her, which somehow relieved her. He was a jerk, but she cared about all her classmates and would never wish them anything bad. Now that she noticed, maybe that's why Bakugou was so pissed off: maybe the fact that she was so caring towards an opponent was a bit counterproductive, and he felt weak being pitied. If she wanted Bakugou to go on full at her, perhaps she should go on full on him as well.

Her resolve steeled: next time, she'd do even better, and show him what she was better than last time, that Gunhead had really proven to be useful. That way, she'd also gain fewer injures and help Deku see that she'd soon be in his league.

She looked at him as well and sighed. No matter how hard she pinned her feelings down, there was something still nagging at her. Maybe things had toned down a bit after the license exams, but she had hoped that despite doing it for her own sake, her feelings for Deku would remain somehow _untouched_ – but she felt that, day by day, he wasn't in her mind as much. She admired him and still loved him, but there was something nagging her that she couldn't comprehend yet.

Uraraka had expected her heart to wait for her brain to decide– yet, when force meets an unmovable object, disgraces were bound to happen. The whirlwind of her heart losing Deku's harmony, seeing him walk away, further and further– it sunk her deeper and deeper. Someday, the glass would shatter. Everyone knew except for her.

Hours passed. Her mind wandered in and out the situation she was in. A part of her was fidgeting over her burns and blisters from her fight with Bakugou, but she would move on from occasional damage. However, her turmoil about Deku and her situation as a hero, her determination towards becoming better and standing up to Bakugou; everything was starting to overwhelm her from behind. She didn't notice, but it was suffocating her in a gentle, unnoticed stroke.

At the end of the first set of classes she was mentally empty. It was a miracle she had gotten through all periods without limping in her seat, otherwise she'd have been sent straight to Recovery Girl and that was something she didn't want to do yet. If the wounds healed on their own, it'd be better for her wellbeing. Besides, bearing with a little pain would help her sustain minor injuries during battle.

She went to the restrooms while he others finished with their food to check on her bandages. Uraraka was heavily walking down the corridors, her eyes half closed.

"You know, you should really go to Recovery Girl as Iida suggested."

The redhead's voice scared the hell out of her, and made her eyes blow open. "Kirishima-kun! What are you doing here?"

He sighed, approaching her. He had been leaning on a nearby wall for a pretty long time, apparently. "I saw you basically crawling your way to class earlier today, and you seem pretty much the same or worse. You're usually chipper and all shiny, not this tired."

"It's a bad day. We all have one of these once in a lifetime." she looked at him mustering all the energy she could. Her smile was blinding. "I'm fine, there's no need to worry!"

Kirishima smiled and scratched his cheek, looking at her. "I admire it that you're so strong, Uraraka-san. But there's no need to overdo it. It sucks that you're so ragged today." he caressed one of her scratches on her right cheek, sun hitting on her eyes. "I guess Bakugou-kun did go hard on you, huh?"

She immediately went all jumpy and defensive towards their supposedly secret training. "Who? Bakugou-kun? No, I'm doing some solo training, this is not his doing!"

"Bakugou-kun is the only person I know that would go this far on a human being without feeling mildly ashamed of doing so." he chuckled, blatantly ignoring her. "It shows that he respects you and trusts on not giving up on your ambitions. After all, I doubt he'd even bother train with somebody else other than himself."

She touched the little bruise that her friend had just laid hands on, thinking. She smiled. "I'm glad he actually went out of his way to beat somebody like me to the ground. At least I'll be giving him the enjoyment of a victory while I get tougher." she grinned, earnestly glad that things were unfolding this way.

Kirishima seemed confused at her statement. "You won anyway, didn't you?"

"How did you know?" she honestly doubted that Bakugou had told him about the fight itself, especially its final outcome.

"He seemed a bit troubled today, a face he only pulls when someone fucks with him – but there's not much that one can read into since, you know, it's _King Explosion Murder_ we're talking about here." she could picture him being completely driven up the wall if he heard Kirishima speaking of him in such a earnest way. She giggled. "He had mentioned that you two would be sparring for a while. He seemed pretty fired up about it."

Uraraka glanced at her bandaged hands, slightly absent-minded. Had she let him down with her performance the day before? Maybe he had been let down in the end and wouldn't show up the day after to spit on her. It worried her a little bit that someone she actually admired would be disappointed with her skills, somebody who had actually taken the time to spar with her albeit he clearly doesn't need much training, especially considering that she's a wimp in comparison.

"By the way," she looked up to see Kirishima leaving, hand in his pocket and a gentle smile. "I'm glad you're alright on your own for now. And do please have those wounds checked, otherwise you'll be rotten dead during your next spar with Bakugou-kun. He might be an almost inhuman bastard, but I can tell he wouldn't enjoy seeing you at your weakest during your sparring."

Uraraka stared at his back, taking his words in. What that was supposed to mean, she didn't know. However, she clutched the fabric of her shirt, right above her hammering heart, and mused on how she seemed slightly relieved.

" _Gah, Kirishima-kun is too good for Bakugou-kun."_

* * *

Uraraka cursed under her breath. Too much for a quiet day.

During the last minutes of the last class Aizawa had surprised them with his characteristic cheer and enthusiasm by glaring at them and telling them to follow him to the USJ, that damned place where everything could go wrong with the snap of a finger. Like, where the fuck had all that people came from that day. And what was the deal with that warp dude and the brick bird. It had been a draining, weird day, so it came as a surprise that Aizawa was willing to make them remember that hideous day.

"We're gonna do some battling for a change, all of that you call _interesting hero-ish stuff_." he said in a monotone voice. "You'll be separated in two groups: villains and heroes." Iida rose his hand up. "Yes, Iida, it's similar to the one we did back at the start of the previous term, but this time, we'll do it in a larger scale. You've been through several rescue missions, so it's been a while since you did some sparring. I'll proceed to draw a bunch of names from this little box right here."

The sole idea of sparring being so beaten up, some bruises still open and still all wincey from several cuts near sensitive areas. Uraraka snarled at the predicament, and gulped that if she and Bakugou or Todoroki were placed in opposite bands, they'd hand her ass on a silver platter.

"Villains have to catch the heroes and viceversa. When twenty minutes have passed, all remaining students will step out of wherever they are. Whoever who is defeated must gather at the central plaza and exit the battlefield. By the way, when I say battlefield I mean that the whole joint" he signaled at all the area underneath the huge vault. "is the battlefield. You can't switch areas; you'll go to one and fight there. All the villains will be given a head start so they can spread throughout the USJ. Each person who steps out of the battlefield at the end of the test is worth a point for whichever group they belong to."

Everyone nodded accordingly. Uraraka listened intently, understanding the game. All she had to do was tag along with someone else so she could be a bit protected. But couldn't she put up a fight by herself?

Looking at her bandages hidden underneath her costume, she was afraid her body wouldn't handle much. She had gone too far by not getting some aid from Recovery Girl. Uraraka facepalmed mentally and remembered Mina, Iida, Kirishima, Deku, and everyone who had wisely advised her to get some medical aid.

"I'll proceed to put you guys in groups. Just do me the favor of behaving a bit and not traumatizing each other or biting others' necks, please?" Aizawa briefly addressed Bakugou mentally, who had actually caught the message. "Then let's see…"

Turns out she wouldn't be going against a big threat like Bakugou, but would probably have to face off against strongholds like Todoroki, Kirishima or Jiro. Also, _Deku_. Given her bad luck, fighting them was the most likely scenario. Still, seeing such strong opponents in the other group filled her with the same determination that had invaded her spar with Bakugou.

" _I just hope to have some aiding."_ she glanced at her surroundings as Aizawa finished answering some of Iida's endless petty doubts. _"It's highly improbable that I'll have help given the size of this place, but I'll do my best! It's handy practice before tomorrow's training with Bakugou-kun."_

Before the villains scurried into the wilderness, Uraraka grabbed Iida and Deku for a second. "Guys, regardless our groups, if we ever encounter each other, let's give it out all!" encouraged she, passionately."Please don't glance at these petty wounds, we shall give this our best shot!"

"Uraraka-san…" stuttered Deku, taken aback. He hadn't planned on going exactly easy on her, but saying that he'd go hard on her was a bit of a stretch given her disorderly state.

"We will diligently keep our word and do our best against you, Uraraka-san!" Iida's eyes flashed passionately. "Please don't strain yourself too much either!"

Afterwards they hurried off with Deku talking to Iida about his gentleman shenanigans and how he didn't need to be so overprotective. She didn't give it much thought and waited near Tsuyu for the test to start. They talked briefly about their strategy. "I take it you'll be going near the water, Tsuyu-chan?"

"It's the field where my abilities come more in handy. I can fling more freely and swim easily. I doubt much people will go around there excepting Kaminari." Tsuyu had such a vivid mind that she had already set a plan of her own way before the practice had begun. "What are you planning?"

Uraraka glanced at the ruins area. Her quirk would be much more useful in a zone with uneven surfaces and debris. The place was used as a rescue simulator all the time, so it was full of rubble, debris, and stuff she could use as weapons. Apart from that, her levitation skills would help her step out of complicated areas. "I'll be heading towards the ruins. I don't think I'd do much better anywhere else."

Tsuyu nodded. "You should be careful. I agreed with Iida and Mina this morning when they said you looked a bit bad with all those uncured bruises in your face." stated she in her constant blunt manner. "I don't trust Midoriya or Shouto with their quirks. One can't fully control them and Shouto is a bit of a beast. At least we have the most dangerous one on our side, this time."

Of course, Bakugou heard her loud and clear and immediately snapped. "Watch whose ass you're dissing, frog-girl! I can kick you six ways to Sunday as soon as we're finished with this shit!"

Aizawa was quick to interrupt the unilateral bickering. "The villains are already in position."

Uraraka saw Bakugou deflate and suddenly eye her. She instantly put up a dashing grin with her thumbs up, wishing him good luck. He, however, frowned and nodded, acknowledging the gesture without returning it. It was a step in the right direction for her. At least he hadn't screamed at her something about wishing him luck because he needed it like he'd have long ago.

" _URARAKA BITCH, WHO TOLD YOU I NEEDED ANY LUCK, YOU LOSER! I'LL GIVE YOU A BEATING!"_ the brunette shivered at the thought.

As soon as she set herself in position to run, her hands felt heavy and her legs were a bit wobbly. The gravity manipulator tried to not make a big deal out of this and, as soon as Aizawa had told them to hurry, she dashed towards the ruins zone. Uraraka stepped down the stairs and thought about her opponents.

" _Kaminari must have gone to the water zone as Tsuyu mentioned before. Deku must be near the mountain zone, where land is flatter and higher. Iida-kun must have gone with him. Kirishima must be near the storm zone, considering how he has high resistance and can endure almost anything with that rock body of his. Todoroki-kun though… could he have gone to the water zone with his ice? If I encounter him, it's game over for me…"_

Uraraka scowled at the labyrinth. Some of the rubble used for rescue missions had been cleared up to make paths that branched between decaying buildings. She could go inside one of them and hide inside until the test ended, which was a good idea considering their height and abundance. Yet, their ruin state didn't guarantee a safe stay inside. One step in the wrong direction could send her floors below. It wasn't the best of options.

She should've thought about this before choosing an area so suddenly. In the conflagration zone she would've gotten somewhere to hide in between buildings at least. She had expected these ruins to be covered in rubble and debris for her to work with, not to have all cleaned up and free to pass. Not only she had nowhere to run, but also had scarce resources to work with.

There was rumble in a building nearby. She felt a chill down her spine and the sound of glass shattering to smithereens near her. No, it's not glass, it was something similar…

Her eyes went wide. _"Ice!"_ Todoroki was probably near the entrance, waiting for a prey to enter and get it over with as soon as possible. He sure expected a weaker victim than Bakugou (who had been the only one to beat him yet) to show up. She had been damned from the start, of course she'd have to fight against a top-tier student. Silly, silly Uraraka!

She took a turn in the opposite direction and ran all the way left, as far from the dual wielder as possible. He was friendly to her and a nice guy to speak with, but his mercy in a battlefield was another dimension of his person. Just remembering his cruel fight against Deku at the Sports Festival made her squirm with fear. "Whatever this guy's up to…" she shuddered. "it's not good."

Her wounds seemed fine this far. Some of them had closed nicely, so she would be able to have a decent fight against a mid-tier student. She just hoped someone like Mineta would appear as well so she'd lessen the burden of her allies. But first, she had to find a place with enough destruction so she could have some weaponry. She relied in her martial skills, but Todoroki was a far-range fighter. She needed something to match his range.

" _I need debris, or stones, or anything a bit big! C'mon, now that my weight limit is high I get nothing to work with?"_ she cursed and started to push some doors open to see if there was anything inside. All hallways were empty, dusty, and creepy. They were a big no-no for her.

As she was exiting one of the buildings, she heard a familiar voice.

"Such a casual encounter we have here, Uraraka-san."

She slowly turned to find no other than Todoroki Shouto at the end of the street, icy steam issuing from his left hand. The sight shook her ground. "I get no pleasure from doing this, but as a villain, I have no other option but to defeat you."

As soon as he stepped forward, ice came running towards her. Uraraka ran back and activated her quirk, successfully flying away from what soon would be a mismatched fight. She landed in a nearby street, but far enough to avoid nausea and escape from her hunter. The gravity manipulator heard the noise of falling debris and steps down the street. _"That's no good. I could've used some of that rumble to stop him. And there's no way I can run back without vomiting– and that's too much of a time waste."_

However, her run came to an end when she was met with a corner of rubble, dust, debris, and a crumbling building behind her. It was a no return point. As soon as Todoroki landed a blow near the building, it'd come crashing down on her. And seeing how he was effectively chasing after her, he'd catch up in a second. The brunette gulped in fear and grabbed one of her wounds, teeth clenched in determination. _"I shall put up a fight at least. That's what respect for your opponent stands for. He won't be leaving unscathed, I'll give it my all!"_

Indeed, Todoroki came running with haste, breaking down a small wall that separated a street from the other. He was breathing a bit hard. "You sure can hold up for a while, Uraraka."

Positioned defensively, she was mentally prepared to thaw herself out of ice if it meant holding up for her opponent. If she could manage to hold up for Bakugou, the blond beast of class 1-A, she'd sure as hell face Todoroki with the same energy.

Well, she was exhausted, but she'd use her last energy to face Todoroki. He summoned his quirk and launched at her, ice ready to freeze her for the whole practice. She could already taste the metallic sting of blood and the cold invading her skin, cracking it and cutting deep; a glass layer of disgrace running deep along her body, threatening to break her with the slightest of moves.

However, none of that came.

Instead, a huge explosion in between sent both of them feet behind. Uraraka would have crashed against the debris had it not been for Bakugou grabbing her arm in time. Todoroki flew to the wall and struggled to get up after such close call.

" _What the fuck_ are you doing facing off against that bastard, angelface!?" hissed Bakugou, clearly pissed at the prospect of losing a point– _her_ point, against that good for nothing ass. "Get the hell outta her before he roasts your ass real bad!"

"Who do you think you are to be giving orders? AND WHERE THE HELL DID YOU COME FROM!?"

Todoroki was slightly amused by the pair, but was equally tired from running around and Bakugou's quirk, so it took him a bit to stand his ground again. "I had spotted him long ago, and I can give damn orders because you're _still_ fucked up!" he yelled while trying to be mildly calm, regarding her wounds. "Go take fucking shelter before that loser gets up – you'll do nothing fucking useful here, Uraraka!"

Before she could actually comply, Todoroki sent a trail of ice spikes after them, trying to cage them and prevent them from escaping again. "SEE WHAT I TOLD YOU ABOUT? GET THE FUCK OUT ALREADY, goddammit!"

She deeply frowned at him before touching his arm, tugging him forward and jumping up before activating her quirk. Both flew a few feet forward, out of the ice makeshift crater. They landed a few feet away from the spike barrier and its creator. "Call me good for nothing again and I'll send you to outer space, you jerk!"

His whole face cracked in disgust and ire. "Get the fuck out of here before he spots us! I'll take care of that bastard in the meantime, just go hide while I sort this out!" he screamed, frowning. He just hated having people in the way of his work. Uraraka would do nothing good in her already injured state, that much both knew. "I can do this on my fucking own, there's no need for your help here. Just run off!"

She gritted her teeth while taking a few steps into the building, where his ice would be useless. As soon as Bakugou prevented Todoroki from entering by fighting him, she'd be fine. "You better kick his ass to make this a worthy investment."

Bakugou secretly smirked and lunged towards Todoroki, who he could fight against on his own like a baby builds a sand castle. Still, Bakugou was a bit tired from running after the half-n-half loser, who at the same time was tired from running after Uraraka, who, again, had been running away from Todoroki. _"If only I wasn't a coward– a weakling with these injuries, running away from Todoroki-kun in the first place, Bakugou-kun and I would've beaten him a long time ago! I can't stand here and do nothing!"_

From a dusty glass Uraraka saw the fight unfold. They were equal on strength and they had this rematch to do since their last encounter at the Sports Festival. Both were tired, and Bakugou didn't have much ground to move across – the street was fairly narrow. Todoroki though, he could freeze the whole street with a single hand. Bakugou was at clear disadvantage here with so little places to jump around and angles to blast him from. He was firing at him like a maniac anyway.

" _C'mon Uraraka, think!"_ she unconsciously grabbed the wall's decaying paint for focus. _"We need to trap Todoroki-kun so he doesn't get Bakugou-kun. I can't let him rob us points, that'd be disgraceful. Besides, I'm better than a bystander! And I bet both know I'm plenty able on my own!"_

Her fist hit the frail concrete of the wall, biting her lip. Suddenly, an idea came to her, palming the wall.

"What the fuck are you trying to pull here, half-n-half?" snarled Bakugou, avoiding his opponents ice by an inch. "Trying to build me an igloo? Too damn chilly for me, loser!"

"I don't see where's the fun on calling me loser." stated Todoroki with a stale trail of voice, blowing icy steam. "But whatever you're planning, you won't be able to avoid me forever!"

"Whatever you say!" he blasted one of his explosions in his direction, only to be shielded by more ice. He could make his way forward with his quirk, but his palms were damn painful to use already. He made a run for it, seeking a weak point. He successfully made a hole on the barrier, sending Todoroki a few feet behind. "I'm gonna blast you so hard, you goddamn–"

"LOOK OUT!"

Bakugou immediately lunged backwards. A deaf noise rumbled across the ruins and shook the ground. The glass of the whole building broke into pieces upon the grasp of Urakaka's gravitational pull, and the very same building came crushing down a second later. The fall of the building shattered Todoroki's barrier to pieces and transform it into a mix of debris and melting shards.

What Bakugou didn't expect was to see Uraraka actually fucking holding a whole enormous wall of the very same broken building, pillars and all, in her gravitational pull, with enough momentum from the fall to–

"RELEASE!" and the walls, pillars and bricks were thrown at a shocked and unguarded Todoroki, who was sent to the end of the street among half of the fallen building. The debris, bricks, dust and stones gathered on top of the unsuspecting student, who was buried underneath the crazy weight of a whole building. After a loud crash and the wall of that street broke down, Todoroki's form emerged from all the rubble that Uraraka had caused.

The smoke of the crash cleared and gave away Uraraka's standing form atop of the debris, sun bathing her in gold, breathing hard and shaking from the quirk effort and the incoming nausea. At the other side of the road, Todoroki struggled to get out of the mess with weak ice spikes.

"Holy shit." breathed Bakugou very softly, seeing the nerd trying hard to recover after the mess she had caused. There was a tint of appreciation in his voice as he glanced at what he thought would be a bystander companion after the beating he had given her the day prior to this, after she had refused to be healed and had stubbornly helped him out. _"Kickass."_

Todoroki eventually surfaced wholly and staggered halfway the street, only to collapse after his muscles gave up his walking, unmoving from his spot on the concrete. Only then, Uraraka allowed herself to fall down to her feet. However, Bakugou caught her arm before she touched the ground. She looked at him, the question evident in her eyes.

"You're my ally now. It won't do any fucking good to have you crawling back to the plaza." Bakugou looked at her as if she was crazy, his resting bitch face scowling at her. "You don't deserve fucking less than help after beating his loser ass. Above all, not if you're in my team."

She smiled with gratefulness shining through, blushing a little bit. "Thank you." shortly after, she detached herself from him. She felt a little pang, a gentle tug at her heart – roaring with pride after his little commentary – after his hand disappeared. "But we should check the area just in case there's anybody else around. We don't want a surprise attack from an ally of his."

Both glanced at the unmoving form of the dual wielder. Bakugou frowned. "I doubt that fucker has any allies around. He doesn't really need one, he's not any regular weak ass."

She nodded in response, almost falling down again. She decided to support herself, hand on her knees, panting. She refused the nausea to take over. Being slightly dizzy was okay, though. She wouldn't let that jerk – not that much of a jerk anymore though, he was being pretty nice to her today – see her in a weak state again.

"I'll do a quick sweep just in case." her feet padded all the way down the debris pile, slightly groggy. "Carry Todoroki-kun to the entrance and meet me there."

Bakugou also made his way down the rubble, trusting her to be alright on her own for a few minutes. The area was quite grand, but she shouldn't have any problems if she was as fine as she insisted to be. Deep down, he knew she was injured pretty badly, but he'd let her have this. After all, she really was _not_ a wimp. He couldn't help the small fire of pride burn for his mate. She didn't need protection.

" _So this is what companionship is all about? Seeing your companion beat some ass and still be damn fine about it?"_ he chuckled while getting Todoroki on his back. Since the bastard couldn't carry himself over to the plaza, he'd have to do it himself. _"I guess some people are good as teammates. As soon as I get my hands on Deku, though..."_

He was seething as soon as that guy came to his mind, sulking all the way to the entrance. Meanwhile, Uraraka made a stop at a corner, near a pile of trash Todoroki had sure wrecked and took a minute to recompose herself, waiting for her breakfast to come running through her throat. However, she had been building up resistance towards this perk so she held it in and regained her breath. She still had stamina for a quick scan of the ruins with a high, gravity-less jump. She ran to the centre of the ruins, where all the streets where visible, and did a quick check of noise, any weird spot in the streets, everything.

The thought of somebody hiding inside a building came to her mind, but as she had done before herself, deemed it to be unlikely. Had anybody been around and the sound of an actual building collapsing would have scared them shitless. Nobody would have enough backbone to endure such a thing and greet its source with courage. Besides, they'd have joined the battle or gotten Uraraka beforehand. After all, Todoroki was making himself heard before the final battle and she was running away all the time.

She landed on safe ground, slightly lightheaded and dizzy again. However, upon seeing Bakugou at the entrance, she felt relieved and better all of a sudden. He was carrying Todoroki around like a sack of potatoes from the farm. _"It shows he has grown."_ thought she, making her way to them. _"Otherwise he would have left him there to rot, or would've hit me out of his way against Todoroki-kun."_

"You sure took your damn sweet time in that stupid sweep, roundface." spat he, clearly tired but still as aggressive as ever. It was endearing to see him unchanged despite the commotion from before and still being an asshole. "What took you so goddamn long?"

Bakugou checked her physical state and was slightly alarmed by how messed up she looked. Some of her bandages were torn apart after her entrance against Todoroki, she was full of scratches, hair completely disheveled after running around for a bit too long, and fininding it difficult to breathe– had this girl even slept at all?

"I wanted to make sure there was nobody else around, lurking in the shadows or plotting a surprise attack. I don't think we'd be able to make it through another fight."

He frowned, fist in mid air ready to hit her. "I SURE AS HELL WOULD, _BITCH_." he eyed her, still frowning. "I wouldn't be so sure about _you_ , though."

She grinned wide, actually pissing him off somehow. His forehead wrinkled. "I'm fine! I could use some rest though, like I guess you would as well."

After a few seconds of pondering his answer, Bakugou glared at her. "Why do you fucking pretend you're perfectly uninjured when you're clearly struggling to even stand?" he kicked some soil. "I can't decide if it's a good thing or a bad thing and it's damn confusing."

She looked at him, bewildered that he was even giving it a second of thought. "I am fine, Bakugou-kun. And when I say fine, I mean _I could be crawling back, but I'm not. I'm standing and I can walk, I can breathe._ " answered she.

"That's bullshit, Uraraka." he took her arm and swung it around his shoulders, her arm trapped beneath Todoroki's form. "I'm giving you the credit you deserve, and because you belong to my team, we're walking back with our heads high, not with _'I could be worse'_ shit. You don't worry me– I _know_ you can handle worse." he grabbed her waist to help her wobble by his side.

She looked at him, blatantly flabbergasted at his honesty and agressivity. "Why are you being so honest?"

"You are my teammate now, and you defeated this loser back there. I'm giving you the respect you fucking deserve." Bakugou grunted, eyeing her for a second. "I've fought with you, and I know you can endure this. For that, I'll help you do a damn decent way back there. I don't want you to fucking stagger your way back to those nerds."

Uraraka gaped at him, so touched by his forwardness and how his voice tinged with pride and determination for her, just like she had done other times towards him. Her heart swarmed with gratitude and trust towards this guy. He was rude, bratty, a beast in the battlefield and as emotional as a brick. However, he was also passionate, proud and hard-working.

And his hands, harboring her to his side: they were calloused, probably in deep pain and exhausted, but they were also caring and careful, like an artist's seeking a canvas to paint on.

"By the way," he eyed the finishing count-down, frowning and ready to pound the lights out of her if she dared to blurt a giggle of hers. "if you tell anyone about all this shit I told you about, I'll go badshit crazy against you tomorrow, got it?"

Nonetheless, it seemed like she'd be the only one to notice for now.

The timer at the roof beeped loudly as the count marked its ending. All the survivors (surprisingly, very few of them remained untouched) stepped out of the wilderness. The big shock came when a beaming Uraraka marched down the path towards the plaza, supported by an endlessly sulking Bakugou and Todoroki knocked out on his back. Bakugou was struggling to keep this victory quiet and that cheesy feeling in his chest at a minimum, pride swelling deep inside his heart.

"Guys!? You made it back… and you seem fairly well!" screamed Deku as soon as they came into view.

Bakugou instantly went on a rampage and Todoroki fell to the ground. "Were you even doubting it, you bastard!?" Uraraka tried to give her fallen companion a piggy back ride to the teachers while her former companion terrorized Deku. "YOU'LL REGRET BEING ALIVE, DAMN NERD!"

Deku ran for his life, peachy after the practice and in no need for a fight against the official high school murderer.

"Defensive as ever, I see." commented Kirishima, who had been beaten judging by his scratches and cuts all over his face. As soon as he saw Uraraka, he took Todoroki from her. Her back was suffering. "Nice to see you in a fairly good shape after this, Uraraka-san! I take it Bakugou-kun won the rematch this time?"

Bakugou stopped plotting a thousand murder sprees against Midoriya and frowned.

"What the fuck, you damn redhead." the blonde hissed at his ear. "She ended up doing most of the job, I only opened a path for her."

Both blinked at the grumpy blonde, who realized his confession and made his way to a corner, probably scream into an abyss. Meanwhile, everyone who had heard the confession scurried over Uraraka, surprised by the news. Some of them were specially skeptic. Deku hugged her shoulders, and she visibly winced. "Did you really do that? That's awesome, Uraraka-san!"

Uraraka glanced at her off-cast companion. "Don't listen to Bakugou-kun. He did most of the job himself. I just… landed the final blow. His battle against Todoroki-kun was harder than my petty final hit."

"So, who _won_ against Todoroki-kun?" questioned Kirishima, adjusting his body to Todoroki's.

She sighed. Her hit had been a lucky shot, a matter of circumstances meeting luck, abilities and a bit of imagination. Bakugou's battle against Todoroki had been way more demanding and he'd have won without her help anyway. Uraraka would give him the credit he previously gave her. Yes, her little scene had been impressive to not only him, but also her herself– although that didn't mean that she had been the MVP of the practice.

Aware of his glare on her neck, she answered what was fitting for her. The scars on her arms were hidden to the rest behind her back. "We won as a team, but he did most of the impotant work. Had I been alone and I'd be crawling."

"Wow Uraraka-san, you sure are getting strong though!" Mina hugged her friend from her side, not seeing or touching her arm wounds.

Uraraka grinned. "I'll be soon catching up, Mina-san! Just you wait!"

Bakugou _did_ see her injuries, some of them bleeding. As well as the blisters, burns and scars, all of their bandages torn open due to her previous handiwork. If she wasn't willing to let the others know, he'd make her realize himself. His moment of honesty wouldn't be in vain.

* * *

When Uraraka hit her bed, she was almost dead. Her full weight crashed the mattress and soaked her into a mixture of lullabies, sweet dreams and decent resting. Her most critical injuries had been taken care of by Recovery Girl – who had been constantly puffing about how indecent and outrageous of her to go into a battlefield with open cuts and bruises. Needless to say, it had been a remarkably tiring day.

If only she had listened to Iida and, like, the rest of humanity, she'd sure be in a better condition than this. She'd have a few minutes of mental rest and then take all painkillers and change into new bandages, like Recovery Girl had taught her as a pragmatic measure for critical conditions. It'd sure be useful if they ever had another survival exam in a forest with a bunch of villains. Again, where _the heck_ did all those come from.

Uraraka forced herself to gather the bandages from her counter and undo the old ones, slowly, and wincing all the way. Their condition was far worse than she had expected: some injuries would sure scar, others had turned slightly yellow, and the rest were healing nicely, already closed. She had decided to leave those closed injuries unbandaged when a cow came pounding at her door.

Well, it sure was not a cow, but whoever the visitor was needed to learn about silence and being a bit less enthusiastic. Of course, when she opened the door, the surprise was evident when it shouldn't really have come as much of a shock.

"Bakug–"

"I didn't need your fucking praise shit back at the USJ." attacked he directly. He stepped near her, a bit too close for her liking. His breath ran the mountains of her nose and filled her with warmth upon his proximity. Bakugou gripped her arm, knowing it'd hurt her, and growled. "You can do whatever you want, but don't you ever dare call me a damn liar."

The red in his eyes burned against her brown irises, increasingly angry as moments passed. His grip was tightening on her burnt forearm, sore after their fight the day prior. Whatever he was trying to convey, it was being consumed by the flames of his anger. "Bakugou-kun, I never intended to call you a liar. If anything, you showed me how honest you could be."

"Then what the fuck was that about my fight being more demanding when we both know that you almost got yourself straight into a _goddamn deathbed_ against half-n-half?" he couldn't understand how she reached the conclusion that him interrupting the fight had been any more useful than her actually finishing it off.

Uraraka shook her head, effectively releasing herself from his grip. Instead, she grasped his bruised hands with infinite care. He didn't seem to mind it much, only flinched and made a frail attempt to pull away. She was too soft, her hands too smooth but also injured and hard at the same time. She was a fighter.

"If it hadn't been for you, I'd be in a terrible state!" stated she clearly. Her fingers stroked his in a caress. "Todoroki-kun would have devastated the whole area if you hadn't been there to hold him up! If anything, you are the one who deserves the credit!"

"You were about to collapse back there, Uraraka." snarled he. "You may fool everyone, but you ain't fooling me any fucking time soon."

She was scowling at him, a grimace he found odd plastered in her angelical features. Her round cheeks were covered in small rubble cuts, her nose perked up in fits of anger and her arms– oh _, her arms_ , so full of little scars that could fill a whole galaxy. He wasn't the most sensitive person in the world, but he could recognize a tough person when he saw one. Bakugou had this urge to tend her wounds, to help her recover from this hard day and wrap her in blankets; wish her goodnight, tell her he was proud of her and watch her finally fucking rest.

A big, submerged part of his heart wanted to take care of her like a good companion, a good rival and a proud teammate. He was craving to tell her to give it a rest, that he could wait another day and postpone their sparring session. A nasty fraction of his mind knew that this was both his and her fault: his for being an animal and hers for being stubborn, for trying to _'keep up'_ with others by sustaining severe wounds.

She must be messed up to have such ambitions. His bubbling ire spoke for him, letting his care rest underneath all his brash behavior. "When I said you could handle this condition, I was being dead straight serious, dumbass. What I wasn't expecting was for you to be so insufferable and go tell others that your effort at the battle– your goddamn injuries, should be overlooked."

"I never–"

He grasped his hair, mentally telling himself to stop, that she was too much light for him to handle. Bakugou didn't stop – a minimal part of him _needed_ to reach to her, know she was safe, unwavering, like he respected and knew her. He needed to know she was alright and wouldn't go do something stupid. "You did well, angelface. Just fucking stop giving me so much credit."

What he said next shook her ground.

"Stop trying to treat me like you treat Deku." he spat, frowning, _livid_. "I don't need _praise_ , I don't need someone telling me what I did right or not. I know my fucking mistakes, I know my feats." Uraraka remained speechless. "Why would you even do such a stupid thing?"

"Because you deserve credit when you do well, Bakugou-kun!" yelled Uraraka, fisting her shirt. "I don't give a damn if you like it or not, but you also deserve to have people know you can actually be a good teammate! Sulk all you want, but I'm just giving back the feedback you gave to me."

"But I never gave you any sort of _damn_ feedback."

Uraraka sighed. "You did, Bakugou-kun. Maybe you didn't word it in the gentlest of ways, but I know you actually think I did good. I can see through you like a wet paper."

Their proximity dawned on him all of a sudden. Why did she…?

Given how near her face was to his, he could do many things: he could punch her for spluttering such nonsense, knock her into delicious slumber and have her being logical the day after. The other alternative was to cup her face, caress her little infinite scars on her cheeks, whisper sweet insults at her, saying how stupid she was and how crazy her behavior was for even trying to understand a wreck like him, for being so damn insistent on being indestructible. Afterwards, he'd kiss her, crash their mouths together in a mad gesture of respect, some admiration, and a bit of that stupid unsettling feeling in his stomach.

He automatically leaned forward–

Bakugou decided to be sane for once and pushed her back, immediately full of questions as to why the idea of kissing her had even occurred to him. His hands dove into his pockets, and a mad blush dusted his cheeks. He immediately craved to smell her sweet fragrance, again. But above all cheesy feelings, he was damn frustrated. "Why would you even fucking try to understand, you of all damn people…?"

His mutter wasn't heard. He seemed flustered for some reason, still frowning and seemingly at a loss of what to say next. She wasn't really sure about this, either. How could she get out of this? Was he mad at her for speaking about him when he didn't want her to? Is it that Bakugou sought to be praised for his own feats, not petty feedbacks from other people?

"I'm sorry if me trying to give you credit upset you somehow." sighed she. "I just felt like me having the whole spotlight wasn't correct, Bakugou-kun."

"I don't give a damn about what other people think about me, but next time you open your mouth so freely, watch who you're speaking about, bitch." Bakugou looked to his side, avoiding her sweet, round eyes and that stupid smile that she had on her face.

"Then we're good, right?"

"Actually, I have these for you."

The explosive teen rummaged through his pockets and eventually took out a pair of vials. He didn't want to remain in that place any longer, so he shoved them to her chest, uncomfortable for being so intimate with somebody and also _alone_ with _her_. "The red shithead gave these to me so I could give them to you. Just fucking take them and rest already."

She blinked at him, shocked at his behavior, and glanced at the vials in her hands. There were bottles full of pills, some of them pigmented in reddish colors. The other vial had transparent pebbles full of liquid, possibly some nutrients to help the injuries close altogether. Uraraka beamed at him. "Thank you very much, Bakugou-kun! I'll make sure to take them as soon as I finish bandaging my arms!"

His hand rubbed his neck. Changing bandages was always a hassle and a pain to get over with. And they stung like a fucker. "Whatever, just be ready for a good kicking tomorrow."

She hummed in response, stepped back and closed the door behind her. The weight of Bakugou's words dawned on her then, left her paralyzed and gasping for air. The vials fell from her dainty hands as her heart's beating went erratic, and her eyes widened in realization. She was sure his eyes had screamed the same her mind had, that he had hesitated, that something– something _dangerous_ had snapped, shifted underneath them. Her hands shook, still feeling the warmth of his touch, his tough skin, deft fingers in a caress.

" _Why… why did I want to kiss him so badly?"_

* * *

Next day was a weird day, but it was exponentially better than the previous one. She had raised like a bird in her mother's wing, fully rested, most injuries closed and a healthy rosy tint back to her cheeks. Uraraka was able to do a proper morning routine after a day of autopiloting and wincing.

As soon as she got to class, she was once again swarmed by a good portion of the class. Iida was, once again, the first one to announce her appearance to the classroom.

"You're looking much better today, Uraraka-san!" his glasses flashed, and he smiled with relief at his long-time friend. Uraraka instantly felt bad for making him worry. "I'm glad you look unscathed, and less bandaged!"

She waved him off with a blinding smile. "I am indeed feeling better, but there's no need to make a whole deal out of it, Iida-kun!"

Tsuyu approached her with a gentle smile. Apparently, she had been a bit worried as well. "I was worried to see you so beaten up after the training practice. I was glad to see you in good hands. Bakugou sure took care of you, didn't he?"

Uraraka's face went beet red, steaming hot. "A-Ah! We just worked as a team, he did his job and protected me, that's _all_ there is to it!"

However, her mind was screaming, falling into a pitch black hole. Something was off about her feelings, there was something irrationally wrong in her surroundings and she just couldn't see what exactly was going on. A corner of her darkest walls was dirty, it was disappearing– breaking. A part of her was changing, somehow.

Ochako Uraraka couldn't put her finger on it no matter how she racked her head for thoughts, changes, anything relatively important that had happened. Apart from her sparrings with Bakugou, nothing was changing alarmingly fast. Her heart was still fully invested on being a top-tier hero, on following Deku's example of strength and training with Bakugou to reach her ultimate goal.

But then, why didn't she get those little heart attacks of hers when she saw Deku waving at her? Why couldn't she bring herself up to blush like she used to? What was wrong with her? She briefly glanced at Bakugou, who caught her gaze and acknowledged her with a nod, going back to mindless bickering with Kirishima. He remained unchanged, too. Then something had changed not outside, but _inside_.

The day was going smoothly. Classes were tranquil and distracting, taking her mind off unnecessary wonder and stress. She diligently took notes all day, had peaceful lunch with Deku and Iida, spoke with Mina, Tsuyu, Momo and the others. Before the last period of the day, she approached a heavily bandaged Todoroki, greeting him and apologizing for causing him a potential trauma.

He looked at her small form, a strong container for a small person. Shout waved his hand to dismiss the topic. "It's ok. I wasn't expecting any less from you, Uraraka-san."

She took in his words and smiled at him brilliantly, in her usual demeanor. Both made their way to next class and sat in silence, listening to the last lesson and packing their things before leaving.

Yet, Uraraka didn't move an inch from her desk. The last fifteen minutes from class had flown around her, wrapping her in a suffocating trail of wonder, doubt and thoughts mashed together in a troubling mess. She stared blankly at the desk. There was something off about that day, that undeniably normal, regular day. After the prior thunderstorm of a painful day, the thought of having such a quiet day was strangely unsettling, it was rattling in her conscience endlessly.

Something had shifted. She had felt it the day before, too. But what had exactly changed? Uraraka wasn't sure. She was suffocating after her encounter with Bakugou, and driven into dreamless slumber afterwards. However, there was no significant change in her thoughts the day after. Her goals were the same, her admirations, her tasks and her limitations.

Nothing had changed, yet everything had.

So wrapped up in a tempesting turmoil, she didn't notice Kirishima approaching her with a grim expression.

"Yo, Uravity, come back to Earth." she immediately snapped out of her daze and blinked. The sky outside was fully clear, orange shining in its whole glory. "Class ended a while ago, where have you gone to?"

Uraraka scratched the back of her head, smiling sheepishly. "Ah, sorry! I was just thinking about stuff, I'm sorry!"

Kirishima laughed while seeing her pack her stuff at lightning speed. "No need to fret, Uraraka-san. I just saw you standing there, unmoving, and got a bit scared."

She looked up again. "I get carried away easily, but it's no big deal, Kirishima-kun!" her feet padded their way to the exit, backpack tightly grabbed and a big, reassuring smile on her face. She had one foot out of the classroom. "Let's get going then!"

Kirishima wasn't following her, she noticed a second later. His eyes were fixated on the big windows behind them, hand in a pocket and a far-off spark in his eyes. He wasn't facing her anymore, but thinking about what to say next. Words weren't easy for him, he needed to place them in a way that would make Uraraka come to terms with what was happening around her.

Eijirou wasn't foolish. He was deceivingly naïve and trusting, but not many things escaped his sight. He was one of the many people who had witnessed her gradual change. She was the same cheery Uraraka that everyone loved, but something about her ways during battle had become brash and absurd, to the point of even asking Bakugou for training.

"Ever since we took the hero license exam, something's been bothering you, hasn't it?"

The gravity manipulator looked at her friend, getting this sinking feeling that something was not right with her friend's dejected voice. She took a deep breath and tried to ready herself for whatever Kirishima was going to throw at her. "Well, not really. Not much has changed since then."

"Are you sure about that, Uraraka-san?"

Her eyes travelled to her feet, unable to say anything and deny his statement. Of course things had changed, and the charade couldn't be held up for long. Uraraka was trembling, feeling like her world was suddenly being destroyed, little by little. The whole classroom faded away, leaving her and Kirishima in a pitch black reality.

"My mindset has changed a little, but it's not something even worth mentioning." and it wasn't a lie.

Kirishima's head turned to the side, his face gleaming with orange reflections of dawn. "You have feelings for Deku-kun, don't you?"

Her breath faltered in her lungs and suddenly disappeared. Her breathing was labored, quick, struggling to fight with the unheard confession. Life had been kicked out of her whole being. No one had warned her about this.

"Ah, well–… yeah, I do."

So the gig was up, huh? Ochako dared look up to her companion, who had this little knowing smile in his face, as if he knew what was going on inside her head when she didn't even know herself. What was going on?

"Again, are you sure?" those words brought all kinds of pain to her. It was a good question, why had she answered so breathy, so tired, raspy, and unsure? "You don't seem as sure as you should be, in my opinion. Only commenting on what I see."

Her heart screamed for whatever this was to stop. It gave her this empty feeling– a void, a _huge_ void in her existence, like something had been robbed of her. But what so missing that made her feel suddenly miserable? What had been stolen from her and why did it hurt so fucking much?

Her heart clenched and constricted, trying to hold a huge truth behind her unseeing eyes, above of her unsuspecting brain, something that would turn her world upside down. The thread was breaking, one that she had fought so much to keep at bay, something that she had realized a long time ago but was refusing to admit, a fragment of a broken illusion…

Kirishima frowned at her. "Are you sure your feelings haven't changed?"

No, she wanted to scream, yell, growl– make him realize he was wrong, yet–

"Are you sure you aren't in denial, Uraraka-san?"

The thread snapped, crushed her, and damped her in a cold feeling of grief, dread, and shock. The floor beneath her feet, all she could see, cracked and sunk from underneath, suffocating and making her feel suddenly cold, empty, and undeniably uncomfortable. Ever since she decided to pin her feelings down, ever since she decided to make her path as a hero out of Deku's life, ever since she had taken things more seriously– all that time, she was slowly moving on.

Her feelings, all of a sudden, had changed. They were flying away, fluttering away, and landing in the heart of another, a darker soul, the hands of a beast. The very same beast who had done blisters, burns, injuries and all sorts of twists to her body.

She couldn't let that happen. She gripped the fabric of her shirt, breaking down, and realizing that things were dangerously changing and marching towards a hideous tide. Kirishima watched her ever so slowly shed big, fat tears of heavy realization, her body numb and unsobbing. He ran to her and hugged the small content for a long trail of fuzzy thoughts.

The shadows blended in, all crashing together and blowing her away.

" _What's going on?"_

* * *

Rain was a bitch to fight in. Bakugou had sworn to his future grave that he'd never make such a foolish attempt to train in a clearly adverse environment like water– yet, there he was: fighting like a sucker because his explosions were damn ridiculous but hey, he could put up a pretty good fight anyway.

"COME AT ME, ANGELFACE!" screamed he from behind, aiming to tackle her with one of his combustions. His feet splashed against the wet soil. "Show me that all your bitching about Gunhead and kicking the half-n-half's ass paid off!"

For once, she didn't give in to his provoking. Instead, her hands came into contact with a falling tree. Then, the explosive teenager fired her way, tearing the tree apart. She took the opportunity to take the tree's momentum and throw it his way. He, again, blew it away, but it wasn't completely burnt to ashes. After all, his explosions weren't only made of fire. She was sent a few meters behind along with the makeshift piece of weaponry.

Uraraka landed in the wet mud and pulled away the wet strands of hair, all stuck to her face. Now that she saw it, Bakugou was also pretty drenched himself. He had refused to take the jacket off and the weight of the wet clothing was slowing him down. No matter how much he tried to hide it, it was only restraining him. Seeing her admire his wet tracksuit, he took off the jacket and threw it away, landing somewhere near Uraraka's.

He took advantage of the moment and blew her off with a huge blast that lit up the whole area for a second before dimming under the rain. The wave threw her away like a discarded tissue, her feet and hands hitting the creamy disgusting mixture of soil, sand and little worms. She was kneeling– suddenly, standing again, hand removing excess of sweat and water from her cheeks, and she spit nearby. There was a metallic taste to her mouth after so many hits from her hunter.

"What the fuck, Uraraka! Still standing?" the aforementioned stood proud in the middle of his way, already positioned to fight. She brushed a trail of blood from the corner of her mouth. Ouch, something broken in there. Despite the searing pain, she still aimed at him. He chuckled. "Too much for an angelface!"

His explosions never reached its aim, as she hovered over him for a few seconds before landing safely behind her. Her stomach lurched. She had been doing that little thing for way too long. If she strained herself too much she'd collapse sooner than expected. Of course, Bakugou wouldn't fall for the jump trap again– he was actually firing at her with all he got, and burning away all her barriers.

However, – she brushed away more sweat from her forehead, panting – his hand muscles would soon give in to tenderness and pain. His quirk would be rendered useless in a few minutes if he continued firing at her at this rate. Uraraka heard him let out a loud chuckle, then start laughing, hysterically.

"I see… I see what you're aiming for, sneaky bitch." snarled he after a while. "Trying to wear me off, ain't you?"

Her silence was enough for him to know that she was being utterly stupid. Uraraka supported herself with a big rock in her surroundings. "I'm not the only one trying to do so, right? You have only landed a pair of hits on me so far, y'know." her smirk was overly confident, even though her insides were painfully twisting in hurtful nausea. "I can still put up a much better fight that what you're offering me. Rain is ruining your quirk!"

She lunged at him with all she got, and watched him ready to unleash the greatest of his explosions to show her that he was no softie, that he would make her regret the day she was born. After a few days of training with her, he had learnt that she had these ways to start a fight, those other tactics up her sleeve, that she hid tons of weapons in hidden places– she was no fool. At the same time, he also learnt how to fire at her, how to be careful enough not to destroy her like he did the first time. It'd ruin the fun and secret excitement for another fight – now, he knew when to stop.

The explosion never reached her – she had stepped back, and from the smoke came a rock at full speed, hitting him square in the chest and throwing him to the ground. Blowing the rock away would have been a futile attempt, since his hands were burning, muscles at the brink of breaking. Bakugou grunted, and watched her step out of the smoke. She was panting as well, and seemed to be ready to throw the very same rock at him again, shaking all the way and panting heavily. This was her last card in the deck.

As days had passed, Uraraka changed. While she would have been scared to the bone to land a destroying hit on him the first day, she didn't even think about it twice now. She was trying to chase him away, trying to push those silly feelings aside, being brutal, giving it her best. Days passed and Bakugou realized that she was slowly starting to lose the line in the sand– how she was wearing herself to the point of unconsciousness, how she was driven to extremes.

She needed to drive those feelings away– needed them to be futile, a mere illusion.

She had grown. But with a severe frown, he lunched forward. _It had been enough._

He seized her and threw her to the ground, tackled her, just tried to immobilize her so she'd stop it– stop wanting to go to extremes, stop fighting. After a moment of struggle, she gave up, and the rock dropped to the mud below. Bakugou's body gave up beneath him, the rain falling hard on them. He lay down somewhere next to her, watching the rain fall and soak them to the bone.

"Why…" his fist hit the mud, splashing his fingers. "Why are you trying so hard, Uraraka!? Why are you being so suicidal, so fucking stupid! Why are you behaving like _this_ , GODDAMMIT."

She held herself on her elbows, wincing at a rock piercing the joint. "I'm training to become the best of best. I thought it was clear–"

He supported himself with one of his elbows, facing her. His scowl, the gritted teeth, a shadow on his face and his throat constricting in anger, his casual face that he wore everywhere he went– except this time, it was more real, as if his face, his animalistic face actually showed his internal storm, how he was really feeling. "That's not what I fucking mean, and you know it damn well!"

In that moment, with his hair weighed down, clothes sticking to his skin and dirt all over him… the beast inside him was letting his claws show. Yet, she couldn't help but see him so beautifully scarred, so angry, and so alive.

He really was something, that psychopath, wasn't he? She wanted to laugh, but her weak state wouldn't let her do so. It came out as weak humorless chuckles. "What the fuck are you laughing at, Uraraka!? WHY IS THIS SO GODDAMN FUNNY TO YOU!"

"It…" she smiled painfully at the sky. The rain wouldn't let up. It was then when she finally understood. "It really isn't, Bakugou. Trust me– it's anything but."

He crawled his way to her side. They were scarce meters away, now. "The answer me already! What the fuck is wrong with you, with Deku, with you two! Why are you constantly trying to shrug things off– things like _this_ , that you're in damn hell pain, but be all smiley and positive about it!?"

She sat now, her palms holding her whole weight behind her. Her elbows wavered under the pressure. "Because it would never help to cry over a damn bruise, over a damn scar, or a sore limb! So instead, we try to be positive and still fight, because…" she made a weak attempt to reach him, and hit him as hard as possible on the ribs.

" _I am fine, Bakugou. And when I say fine, I mean I could be crawling back, but I'm not. I'm standing and I can walk, I can breathe."_

 _He frowned. "That's bullshit, Uraraka."_

She fell down shortly after, face dirty with mud and water. He never saw her even bulge– she remained there, grasping the slime. "…it's what heroes do, isn't it?" finished he. He brushed some hair away from his face. "Yeah, I've heard that fucking thing so many times, it's annoying bullshit that Deku is constantly spluttering."

Upon hearing his venomous words, Uraraka instantly sat up and readied her fist. " _Shut UP_!"

However, he was quick to stop her punch with a single hand, even laying on the ground and grabbing his side after her kick. Bakugou could have easily called in a explosion, make her fly away and just forget about him, about _this_. Still, he watched her tremble, quiver under the rain. She had never looked so alive to him than now.

The explosive teen threw her whole weight tumbling back. He still crawled back to her, to continue firing at her, trying to understand. "Why, Uraraka."

She lay there, motionless.

"WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS FOLLOWING DEKU AROUND, URARAKA?" he spit, his fangs clashing and blood spilling out of his injuries, of all the cuts she had rightfully given him. "WHY ARE YOU SO FOCUSED ON BEING LIKE HIM!? _WHAT'S THE GODDAMN POINT OF ALL OF THIS?_ "

He panted hard, struggling to keep his shit together. He saw her finally move, try to turn around and face her like the goddamn warrior he regarded her as. Bakugou needed answers, needed to know why, _why_ of all people, _she_ was following Deku like a moth attracted to a candle.

She eventually sat again, and got to sit on her knees, unable to stand on her feet. "I wanna grow up, Bakugou-kun. It's been my aspiration ever since I entered this forsaken academy and it'll be until my last breath. Deku is, is my _anchor_ , Bakugou-kun. He's all I want to be: a strong, kind-hearted hero that will be brave without wavering." she was breathing hard, the rain making it harder for her to keep pace of her labored breathing. "I want to be like him, like my role model. And I'll take all hits necessary to build myself up, and catch up to him!"

Bakugou's air was knocked out of him in sudden eerie realization . _Oh_. So that was why…

Still, she gritted her teeth, and looked at the mud under her. There were small patches of water around her. "Why wouldn't I stick to him when all he's done is give me affection, give me encouragement, a person to hold onto when the lights die…" Bakugou easily realized how she wasn't speaking to him anymore. "Why? Why wouldn't I be by his side when he's stayed by mine all along!?"

She made his way to him, an unrecognizable expression of frustration, anger and torment written on her features. She was flinching, wincing, crawling to him. She stopped halfway. "Give me a reason not to stick to him!"

Suddenly, her fist was flying to his face once again, and it did hit square on his cheek this time. Bakugou landed on his side, grunting. He spit. " _What the actual fuck_ , Uraraka." he cleaned some dirt off his cheek. "What fucking nonsense are you talking about, you dumbass!?"

He kicked her on the stomach, making her retreat and hit the mud. "Who the fuck actually told you to get yourself a fucking _model_!?" his arms crawled to her side, again, and again. "Who told you to also become a damn shadow of your model! You don't deserve to be his _shadow_ , angelface! You have enough backbone to actually fight him and give him a good beating, to stand by his side and not be always looking up to that nerd, dammit!"

Uraraka struggled to get up this time, and coughed a pair of times. She faced him on all fours, one arm around her stomach. Her eyes were blown wide, mud all over her and the rain soaking her clean. "What are you talking about, B-Bakugou-kun?"

"You know what I'm talking about, dumbass!" the ashen blonde growled, tired of her being so clueless, so stupid, and so underrated. "I'm fucking tired of having others telling me about Deku, a good for nothing, a quirkless bastard– but have Kirishima underestimating you, Kaminari spluttering bullshit about you being fragile, when everyone should know you are _not_!"

He attempted to punch the living lights out of her, but air left his lungs and his fist fell to her side. Bakugou lay on the mud, hitting the soft surface over and over in frustration. Seeing him so worked up was somehow angering her; she was not a sideckick, a follower, a shadow!

Uraraka kicked him on the ribs again, sending him rolling a meter further. "You're the one who is being hysterical and a jerk and spitting rubbish! Stop calling me a bystander, stop saying such mean things about Deku-kun, you–"

He coughed loudly and cursed under his breath. His eyes on her still held the glint of an animal killing its innocent prey, a sadistic fuck wanting to wreck her upside down. "See, even though you supposedly have moved on from that bastard, you're still gonna kill anybody who dares insult him."

Uraraka looked at him in disbelief. "How did you–"

"Kirishima told me everything, Uraraka." she gasped loudly. "Mostly because I actually sent him to talk with you, because I wanted– I _needed_ to know what the fuck was going through your mind, what was going on that got you so damn stuck to that loser."

She suddenly needed to run away, leave, just drop the subject, but her limbs were far from useful right now. She had been reduced to a sputtering mess. "And I don't give a damn about your feelings towards the bastard. You can go marry him for all I care." that was an evident blatant lie. His voice cracked. "But don't be a shadow, don't fucking reduce your worth to being a follower, don't aspire to _be him_ , dumbass."

She gritted her teeth. Her voice came strained. " _Stop_! Stop this, Bakugou-kun!"

"You're the one who has to stop being like this, Uraraka– stop being a follower," Bakugou growled at her, mad at her lack of vision, at her whole self for being so damn stupid and careless. "and go down your own path! What fucking good will it be to become like him when you have so much potential!? Why reduce yourself to a shadow when you can be much more than that!"

"I SAID–"

Her punch was again stopped in time with a grim expression. Instead, he took her wrist and pinned her to the ground, hair fanning into the mud. The fall hurt them both, sore muscles aching for the sudden movement. "No, _you_ are the one who has to stop _this_ , Uraraka." his nails dug into her dirty skin. "You ain't going to get shit done like this, Uraraka. Throwing yourself to danger as if taking hits and _barely_ making it through was the way to build up resistance."

He shook his head, his face clenched in a frustrated scowl. "Stop trying to get yourself into a fucking coma, stop being so reckless to be a shadow, Uraraka. I won't be training with a follower– not if I know you can kick ass on your own. You are strong enough for everyone, Uraraka– strong enough for _me_."

Droplets of rain fell down his flattened spikes and down her cheeks, while he stared at her waiting for a goddamn answer, a sign that she would look after herself, that she'd be careful, that she'd look up to her future self. Apparently, Uraraka read through his irises – her eyes gleamed, widened, and then closed tightly. The reality he was presenting her wasn't pleasant at all, but nor was seeing her following a nerd like Deku.

"You are right."

He looked at her again, blinking and willing to listen to whatever she wanted to say.

"Deep inside, I knew that my goals aren't ideal, that thriving under the shadow of somebody else wasn't right." her eyes softened and she managed to smile despite the emotional and physical pain. "Though, I'm not training to fill in a follower slot. I always wanted to be more than that."

Her next words shocked him. This time, she wasn't biting her words back.

"That's why I chose to train with _you_ , and not Deku." her smile was a bit bigger this time. "I wanted to taste the pain, to know what it feels like to be beaten to your feet, to feel the blood out of your veins. Deku wouldn't have been as hardcore as you have been all along, Bakugou-kun." he let go of her hands. Uraraka cleaned some falling blood from her chin. "That's why, in the end, I chose _you_ – because you gave me the pain that I was searching for."

Bakugou stared at what Kaminari had described as frail; what Kirishima had called small, cute; what Deku probably saw as somebody to be protected and kept secure in a cage. Instead of all of that, he saw a strong girl, struggling with her own insecurities but still smiling every day. _This_ was the strength she talked about before: being able to keep her problems to herself, to fight nonetheless. She had willingly sought for a beating, knowing she'd very probably lose, endured the pain, tried to heal for herself, but still put up a fight and smile while doing so.

He couldn't see a corner of her being weak, fragile, or anything akin to such blasphemy. Because she kept coming at him, and he hadn't realized how much of an effort that must have been. Was this the real Uraraka that nobody saw? Was this woman the real deal?

"You're fucking insane, Uraraka." whispered he, more in appreciation than disdain. Yes, he had been harboring admiration towards her ever since the Sports Festival, and it kept growing every time people spoke of her feats at Gunhead– that's why he actually had decided to train with her in the first place.

Everything had come crashing down in the span of a week or so: all her doubts about Midoriya, his admiration towards her, everything. What he didn't know was that this little girl would survive the suffocation of so many realities thrown at her at once, and still be able to fight battles with such enthusiasm. How had she come _so far_?

He took her hand to help her sit. She brushed some bangs aside, the rain still pouring hard on them. "Thank you, Bakugou." Uraraka showed him a small smile. "Thank you for opening my eyes. I'll be soon meeting Deku power-wise like I wanted all along, but I won't be behind him anymore– I'll train further and walk by everyone's side."

She had chosen him as her enemy to grow beyond her own expectations, to meet Midoriya in power– but her newfound friend had somehow made her realize that maybe, she was worth a bigger league than being a shadow of her best friend. Deep inside, she was seeking more recognition, and being able to stand on her own.

He chuckled, smirking. "That's why you chose _me_ and not that nerd, didn't you?"

She let out a silly giggle, brushing a smudge of mud from her cheek. "Yeah, that's why."

Bakugou flushed pink at the endearing image, frowning. "C'mere, dumbass."

He held her in his arms, her small body trapped between his knees and his strong arms. His chin rested on top of her muddy hair, blushing at her proximity but not really giving a damn about being sensitive for once. She deserved some comfort, and he'd be damned if he didn't let her have this moment after all the turmoil she went through. His deft fingers dig through her hair as she grasped his shirt and laughed– finally fucking _returned_ to her old self after so much bullshit.

"Thank you, Bakugou-kun." her small voice was muffled by his chest. Her touch felt like little sparks and it made something hit hard, real hard in his heart. "For everything." this time she wasn't afraid of speaking the whole truth.

Something hit hard in her heart, too. She felt the claws of the feared beast hold her a bit closer, letting all his admiration pour on her, while silently starting to put the pieces together. _"Ever since the Sports Festival…"_ he eyed her with a frown. _"that little thing has been growing into this mess, huh."_

As he felt her meld into his body – the very first time someone ever came so near to him, to his heart. He cursed curtly. "Fuck."

Her dainty arms hugged him tighter, feeling him– him, and nothing else around her; not the rain, the confusion of giving up on a love in favor of somebody else, and the struggle to be strong enough. The silly smile on her face couldn't be helped.

" _And that's why, in the end,_ _I chose you_ _."_

* * *

When he saw her crashing down, her whole body falling to the concrete with no apparent signs of being concious or even fucking _alive_ , he felt his heart bungee jumping through his stomach, dread drenching his whole being. His breath wavered and he just wanted to run to her side.

He had warned her, told her that he was fucking alright, that the hit had been nothing.

However, she still decided to torture him. As soon as he had blocked the hit and got himself knocked out, Uraraka had shrieked his name and come to his side. She took his body near a pile of rubble and held him to her chest, trembling with fear. He felt her in shambles, whispering his name in slowburn whimpers.

Bakugou wanted to yell at her, make her shut up, tell her he was fine. The shadows of the night, the light of the fire and the broken glass around them– it only enhanced her increasing mental breakdown upon seeing him reduced to a mess of parts.

Somehow, seeing her so broken hurt him more than the actual scorching wound on his torso. The thought had never even occurred to him that his heart would break from seeing somebody cry over him. He could faintly hear her heart, her erratic heart– it was marathoning for him, just for his sake. He grasped the sound, tried to slow it down with the strength he had left, use it as an anchor. Bakugou glanced at Uraraka, and also noticed that there were a few civilians and students taking refuge somewhere near them.

"You stupid, asshole, jerk, and insufferable idiot." stammered she, hands trembling on his head. She tore one of her bandages off from her injured arm with her teeth and started the handiwork. Fireballs were destroying the debris protecting them and the enemy would soon clear the way to them; she had to be quick. "What do you think you are doing, being an ass to your whole class and then suddenly being heroic during our final battle– _idiot_ , stupid…"

He growled at her. No matter how much he wanted to normalize the situation, to make her stop babbling incoherencies and be quiet, be normal, stop the pounding headache that so many explosions was giving him. "Who are you calling an ass, you b-bitch..." snarled he.

She wrapped the long bandage across his torn uniform, trying with all her might to stop the bleeding. "You knew it was dangerous, you knew you can die because of this. Yet you went out of your way to– to protect me, when you know I could have dodged it."

The fire behind the debris was getting blurrier, and the sound of havoc was getting further away from the pair. Suddenly, his eyelids felt heavier, his eyes dry, and his muscles numb. He… didn't feel that much pain, anymore. The edges of his reality were burning and fading away. Darkness was closing in, lurking and tearing at his consciousness. Uraraka… _"Is she still… here?"_

There was a big quake under them, cracked the concrete road. Uraraka held tighter onto him, protecting his body from any extra harm coming on their way. He opened his eyes again, and felt her smell, her heartbeat abandon him– his anchor, the only thing tying him to reality. He lay on his front now, barely being able to stand with his arms.

However, when he saw all the debris around them gathering, parts of a destroyed skyscraper– his heart _stopped_. His mind went blank, the only thing existing– not the civilians, the students, but her trembling figure, his _hero_ , taking the pieces and putting them together in a colossal shield. She was wavering, her knees struggling to hold the whole weight.

And Bakugou was afraid, scared, _terrified_ of losing the only person who could read him despite being an ass, who would hang on to him no matter how many times he pushed her away. Suddenly, his constant, the worst of his pains but also the best of the cures was hanging by a thread.

That was what made her worth loving. That was what made her worth it all. And it was now when he realized that–

"Uraraka…" he grasped the little pebbles of rubble underneath his torn palms. "What the _fuck_ are you doing!?"

When she turned around, the chaos around her still floated, but the tears still fell down her face. Yet again, she knew what she was going against. And yet again, she was still facing the danger as if it were nothing. Uraraka looked at the man she secretly loved with a heartbreaking smile. "Don't you understand, Bakugou-kun?"

He briefly glanced at the amount of stuff around them and shivered. His eyes started to sting as he slowly realized, with shrunk heart and faltering breathing, dread drenching his body, all of him feeling the reality hit, and at the same time dying– this was her end.

She was going high past her weight limit– something she could barely hold afloat for so long, a burden too heavy for her to lift. As soon as the debris fell down, she'd be no more than a corpse, the pressure of her quirk snapping inside her body in a flash and instantly killing her. Everything was happening so fast, he couldn't recollect his thoughts, his strength, to give back all the support she had given him all along. He was going to lose her.

And Katsuki Bakugou couldn't have it.

The debris stood proud in mid-air while the enemy prepared its shot. "I'm not a _shadow_ anymore!" yelled she, earnestly happy. "I've become an ally, someone to trust in battle– and you were the ass to make me realize my worth all along. Don't you understand?"

He gawked at her, speechless, still crawling his way to her to make her stop– stop this madness, make it all stop spinning, stop the ride, make her go to a safe zone and just fucking survive. "Uraraka, stop!"

The tears fell freely, damping the concrete below, but her smile never wavered. "In the end… I chose you, Bakugou-kun. And in the end, I decided that fighting without you with my side… that's not an option! Living without you..." she shook her head. "Living without you will never be an option, and that's why I'm choosing you again, Bakugou-kun!"

" _NO_!" he was too far away, too late to stop her. In the end, the top student of his class hadn't been strong enough.

He faintly heard the pitch of the massive gun prepared to shot. And all of a sudden, there was a gust of wind, white noise he never registered and something shaking under his weak, defeated being. The only thing he saw was an explosion in front of them, the love of his life standing proud and smiling before being consumed by the contact of the shot– fire encircled her weak form, and the debris shattered into piles of rubble and everything near them exploded into pieces.

Her form faltered on her feet but still stood, and he thought she was fine, alright, she'd survive and fuck, he was relieved because he'd get to see her one more day after this hell was over– his dream suddenly _bursted_.

Uraraka stumbled, fell to her knees and her body met the hard, broken concrete. When he saw her crashing down, her whole body falling to the concrete with no apparent signs of being conscious or even fucking alive, he felt his heart bungee jumping through his stomach, dread drenching his whole being in a whole new level. His breath wavered and he just wanted to run to her side– hold her in his arms, scream at her like he used to do, caress her burnt locks.

The only thing he could do was scream, his face scrunched in utter disbelief and anger at the scene in front of his eyes, his expression broken beyond repair. He couldn't understand, why she, of all people, why… _why?_

" _URARAKAAAAAAA_!"

She didn't move no matter how much he barked or moved closer– the world never stopped after her break, nothing changed excepting the fact that _his_ world did stop for a second, his heart fell out of his body and all that was left was the carcass of a broken man. Tears gathered at the corners of his eyes, stung like motherfuckers, but seeing her not fighting back…

He had sworn he'd never see that scene unfold ever again. Yet, it _did_.

All he could do was call her name a thousand times more in broken hurls before his brain decided to free him from this hell, from the misery of losing somebody to the hands of her own stubbornness to make him feel proud.

" _Didn't you know, Uraraka?"_

His eyes closed shut and the world continued its painful course.

" _Deep down, it was always you, angelface."_

* * *

In the end, Uraraka was stubborn enough to fight her way through surgery and medication and eventually wake up, immobilized and chained down to a hospital bed. Her eyes fluttered open to the white ceiling of the Recovery Wing, light washing over her bed and form.

Her head instinctively turned to the window. Birds chirped outside and, after a lifetime of pain and hell, she allowed herself to smile. It seemed like they had won after all. The sound of the world outside seemed like a far-off dimension, casting her aside like a corpse and rendering her almost deaf. It was alright though, she could do without hearing that sharply for a pair of days.

That made her wonder… how long had she been out? Uraraka sat up on her bed, already feeling the wires constricting all movement of her arms and back. She removed some bangs from her face – her hair was slightly longer than she'd like – and rubbed her forehead, trying to make ends meet in her mind. There was no calendar around, no way to know where she was temporally speaking.

Also, her throat was clogged and dry as a desert. Her eyes tried to make out her condition, but her arms were heavily chained to several machines by her left side, so it was a bit painful to move. She could feel her legs and move them a bit, so that _was_ something. After such rash move during their final fight, she had expected to be knocked into a coma, but–

She stopped breathing. " _Bakugou-kun_ , Mina-san, Deku-kun, everyone!"

Uraraka was instantly pushing the nurse button like a madwoman – fuck the pain in her arms –until the very own Recovery Girl made her way to her patient, notepad in hand. She had a big smile sketched on her wrinkled face, one that Uraraka needed to imitate because fuck it, she was alive and what else mattered now?

"Good morning, young lady." the old woman grinned and noted down this newfound condition on her sheet. The gravity manipulator heard busy chatter nearby, but only paid heed to her nurse. "I'm glad to see you finally wake. You sure had a good slumber, didn't you?"

Uraraka started sweating, scratching her neck. "Actually, I'm not exactly sure about how long I've been here, so…"

Recovery Girl left out a good-natured laugh. It seems like Uraraka's little handiwork during the last fight hadn't angered the woman at all. After all, she was always getting worked up over Deku's lack of self-control, and trust her it was noticeable. "You've been here for a pair of weeks, and the last one to wake up from all those hospitalized during the battle. That green kid…"

Uraraka was immensely relieved that everyone was apparently okay. Considering that she had blacked out during the last part of the fight, when Deku and most of the rest were giving it their all, so she didn't expect anybody to be dead or anything mildly severe. If anything, Deku had been hospitalized for the same reason as her: quirk overuse.

"Now, young lady, I have to make some fast checks on you, then, I'll let you sleep for a while more." the amount of sedatives on a plastic bag, travelling down a transparent wire increased a bit to help her sleep easily. "We have to check on your condition now and after this. We reckon you need some sleep, don't you?"

She had always considered that sleeping after such critical conditions wasn't the best of options, but Recovery Girl was in charge, so she guessed it was alright. _"So… a pair of weeks, huh? I hope everyone's alright."_

Uraraka heard the door of the room close. While Recovery Girl ran a few tests on her heartbeat and the intake of vitamins, the gravity manipulator couldn't help but ask about her neighbor at the other side of the curtain, whose voice she hadn't picked up fairly well due to her temporal bad hearing.

The old lady hummed. "Oh, there's this noisy and sassy kid that won't stop fidgeting and demanding answers, utmost rude and so moody. You're an angel compared to him, young lady." her eyes widened like saucers. "Wait, I'll present him to you."

"Wait, there's no need to–!"

The woman opened the curtain and the morning light beams washed over her neighbor's body, who jumped at the sudden sunshine and scowled, cursed loudly and glared at his right– then his eyes widened more than she had ever seen them, still as red as she remembered them and god, she suddenly felt euphoric because Bakugou was alive, he was alright.

He gripped the bars of the hospital bar. His irises trembled in disbelief. "Uraraka…?"

Recovery Girl gasped. "Oh, so this is the girl you were so adamant about, little boy?"

Bakugou immediately snapped and blushed in a lovely shade of red. Uraraka's cheeks were a bit pink, as well. "What the hell, old hag? Who said I was expecting anything, huh? Don't go around spreading bullshit about me!"

The nurse frowned and started pounding his head with the notepad, making her patient wince repeatedly.

Uraraka took the chance to analyze him: he seemed mostly fine, excepting some band-aids on his right cheek, a bandage around his head, plenty around his hands, and another around his left forearm. Glancing at him more closely and the lack of wires stuck to him, he had woken up long time ago, but was still doing muscular recovery. And it seems like he wasn't aware of her presence until now, even though he supposedly had asked about her before.

Above all, Bakugou was still a dumbass, but he was healthy. Just then did she remember about what she had done to get her stuck in there, and how she had been willing to die for his wellbeing (even though there had been other people there, but she had mainly thought about Bakugou)– and turned around, focusing on the birds flying around.

After giving the boy the time of his life, the nurse giggled and stepped aside. "I assume you have things to talk about. I'll come back in a few hours – try to behave, kids."

The door clicked shut, leaving the pair alone. Each of them sat on their respective beds, but Uraraka could mentally feel him right beside her, his glare piercing the back of her bruised neck. She clenched the blankets around her, trying for all she had left not to look at him – because if she did, she probably would never make it out of that hospital bed.

Uraraka heard Bakugou snarl and cough from behind her. Her spine went stiff.

"Oi, Uraraka." called he, voice raspy and low. Uraraka closed her eyes tightly, flinching at his aggressiveness. It felt like it had been so long since they had seen each other– touched, fought, spoken, that he felt like he was an alien. Still, she was sure that his eyes still remained red like blood, that his skin was still smooth and hard, and that he was still frowning like she last remembered him.

So, instead of facing him like she had always done, instead of being brave, she remained silent. He had a reason to hate her– she had tried to abandon him after they had made so much progress, and even tried to make it look like it was nothing when she was breaking his heart. Her teeth clenched – she was a terrible person.

"Fuck, Uraraka, _answer_ me– _look_ at me, goddammit."

Yet her back faced him. He sighed, then grunted in response. "Well then, fine!"

Uraraka heard rattling from behind her. Curious, she turned around to peek at him– her mind exploded, and steam came out of her ears. He was dragging, pushing his bed towards hers with a fearsome disapproving look, groaning as he rolled the bed towards her. She squealed and rolled her bed backwards, running away from him. Fuck her arm wires, she was out of there. "Stop fucking ignoring me, angelface!"

Bakugou reached out, pushed, and the curtain partition wheeled to the end of the room, crashed on the wall, making way for him to approach her. He still continued, trying to grab the bars of her bed to join them together. However, the little girl was having none of that much needed disclosure today, so she still drove her bed backwards.

Seeing Ochako run away was starting to piss him off badly. "What the hell are you doing, dumbass? C'mere!"

Her bed wheels hit the wall, slamming her head against the window pane in the process. Bakugou then, – finally, he thought – curled two fingers around the side bars of her bed and he pushed her towards him, both beds crashing and shaking. Bakugou seized her jaw and his red eyes pierced hers like a knife, teeth gritted and his nails digging deep into her skin.

This was the very first time she was afraid of whatever he had to say, and it gave her this sinking feeling of remorse. His claws were craving his name on his heart, making tears attempt to spill because now– just now she realized that he was a monster again, that she was his prey, but she wouldn't have him any other way than this beautiful package of rage and fire, crowned with disheveled golden spikes.

She was damned from the start. "Bakugou-kun–"

His grip tightened, nearing his face to hers so she'd see how fucking messed up he was, both inside and outside. "Don't you fucking dare say that you're sorry, Uraraka– don't you even try to run away again–"

"Bakugou-kun, I'm–!"

His lips landed on hers harshly, crushing her smooth mouth under his chapped lips, brow furrowed in concentration because damn, that woman was crazy, she wouldn't shut up, and god forbid this boy from holding back any longer. Her eyes opened wide, sensing the danger of his violent antics, and tried to pull him away to take a little breath. Her palms tugged on his shirt, gasping for air– but he suddenly broke away for a moment to kiss her again, seal her protests in a slower kiss, aware of her tired condition, and drunk from her presence.

His hands flew to the nape of her neck, angling her face in a better angle, while she finally closed her eyes and gave in to him, to his whole self– the anger, the hurry, the swears, his violence. Her fingernails brushed his neck tenderly and grabbed his shoulders. It was a shame they were in different beds and their bodies weren't fully touching, but Uraraka was fine with that– not like she could actually feel much more than his lips on hers, his tongue caressing her deepest corners, and his hands – those made to exterminate whole countries, holding her in place.

A few seconds later, he pulled away, both panting. His right hand still held her head near his. "Don't you ever fucking _dare_ do that again, Uraraka." he finally let her go, letting her finally breathe because jesus, that was a ground shaker. "Not when we have stuff to talk about, not making it seem like it's fucking nothing–"

Uraraka frowned, worried about what he was about to say. "Bakugou-kun–"

"It's not about me, damn it!" he grasped the neck of her shirt, like he always did when he was struggling to make words work. "Think about your fucking self for once! Why would you go and do such a reckless thing, you stupid, mindless brat!"

Her shoulders shook, lips drawn into a thin line. Her hand flew to grab his arm, stopping his frantic shaking. "I did it for you, I already told you why!"

"I don't give a fuck about that, Uraraka! All I know is that you were willing to throw your life away again– you were willing to, again, serve as a shitty battle casualty when we had stated you're more than a sacrifice!" he let her go and tore at the sheets on him. "You were willing to throw all your work away for me, who has done nothing but give you burns, injuries–"

Uraraka wasted no time on slapping him. Hard. His eyes widened at the notion. "How can you speak about such thing so lightly when you had been willing to the exact same thing moments before, you jerk!?" now it was her who was grasping his shirt like a maniac, processing the words as they flew out of her mouth. "How can you be berating me when you used yourself as a shield to– to just…"

The dam broke down, tears freely cascading down her face. It was the first time he saw her acting on her feelings in public, showing how messed up she really was. His eyes widened, brows knit in shock. Her shoulders trembled, looking at him in despair. That was the moment when she realized how far things had been twisted, how he had meant something at the beginning, with their first fight, to just mean _everything_ now.

How could she have fallen for him so fast? The experience of almost losing him was overwhelming her.

His teeth gritted. "No measures are enough when an ally is in danger, you dumbass. I acted on instinct, I saw you in the middle of the line and– I snapped, Uraraka."

"Then why are my reasons bullshit!? Why do I get all this shit when I was also looking after an ally!?"

He removed her hands from his shirt and grimaced. "Because of your last words, you ass!" her eyes widened and shivered at the cold realization. She could still remember them... "Remember what you said? All about not being able to live _by_ our side, _by_ my side, and then just fucking bursting into flames? REMEMBER THAT I TOLD YOU TO FUCKING _STOP_?"

His shoulders trembled, the weight of losing her suffocating his poor heart. She stared at him sitting still, flabbergasted, trying to understand what he meant. His words came ushered, embarrassed. "Didn't it cross your damn mind that for me, fighting without you would be hell as well? Didn't you think about what others would feel?"

She gasped. "But Bakugou-kun–"

"Let me finish!" he took her jaw again, and she feared he'd kiss her again while being livid. "You said that living without us wasn't an option, that living without me wasn't an option– and then give up your life for my sake? What the fuck is wrong with you, angelface?" screamed Bakugou, fully aware of other patients in nearby rooms. "Didn't you realize that maybe _I_ would have a problem with you leaving me? After all I told you about stopping being a mere relief and considering yourself worthy, you go and throw it all away?"

His head hung low, the grip loosening until he was the one gripping his own face in frustration. "Damn it, Uraraka– just don't do that ever again. Don't scare me like that ever again…"

" _He was…"_ her breath got stuck in her throat. _"… this scared?"_

Bakugou was still shaking. "Just stay– _stay_ with us. And I'll never complain despite you being a pain in the ass."

Uraraka brushed a silly tear away from her face, trying to smile for him to show that she was fine, that she would make it through any hell destiny threw at her, and all by his side. "Alright."

"Fucking promise me, angelface." scowled he. "No shit like that will suffice right now."

She was instantly frowning."I'll only promise you," sigh. "if you promise me to be careful, to stop swinging yourself to danger so easily– I know you can take it, and I'm glad you're willing to go against anyone who hurts our comrades and that you have such high hopes to become the best of heroes, but..."

He coughed. "Fair enough."

When the gravity manipulator looked up, he was evidently blushing, not even trying to keep it hidden. Reflexively, she blushed as well. "Well, if you're willing to be less of a pain and you've been with me despite… well, despite me being fucking _me_ , I can have that _compromise_ with you."

 _Compromise_. The word itself spoke volumes to her about what he was feeling right now, and made her aware that, despite having positive feelings about her– ones she also held as well, but ones she wasn't ready to fully show yet – he wasn't able to give her much more than that, either. They hadn't been with each other for that long, only something akin to affection beating in their hearts.

They'd cross the bridge when they arrived to it. For now, this was more than enough. "Then I'll never swing myself into danger so easily, Bakugou-kun. At least, I'll try to control it."

He scratched the back of his head and sighed. His scowl was softer now. "Whatever. Just survive– and if I tell you to run, you–"

Without wanting to, a yawn escaped her lips. She immediately slammed her hands on her mouth. "I-I'm so sorry, Bakugou-kun!"

His frown deepened again, slightly pouting. "What the hell, are you sleepy?" he briefly glanced at the dropper by her bed, and remembered how he had been put to sleep soon after he had woken up. "Oh, right."

She rubbed her eyes with a sheepish smile. "It's ok, I can hold on for a few minutes."

Bakugou rolled his eyes. Uraraka was going to be the end of him. Couldn't she see that she needed to go to sleep? Damn her and damn this school. "Fucking to sleep, woman. We can talk when you wake up… or something."

"Bakugou-kun?"

He observed Uraraka bury herself in blankets with a small smile. "What do you want now?"

She giggled. "Sleep next to me– each in our beds, please?"

Things had gotten to a point that he couldn't deny her anything without struggling. It was irritating as hell. "I'm not your damn plushie, Uraraka."

He still lay down and looked at her close her eyes, also trying to fall asleep himself so he'd avoid the embarrassment of explaining to the Recovery staff why the room looked like a mess, why their beds were pushed together and why some blankets were torn. Just the picture itself was worth gold.

He also had something else to tell her. "Uraraka," her eyes blinked open, and looked at him in silent question. "just to set things clear, you know that I…"

She giggled. "Yeah, I know." he blushed in that pink hue that she adored in his face. "And you know that I do, too, right?"

Bakugou flashed her a sincere smile, lacking any kind of ill intentions, no sarcasm, or cruelty behind. "Yeah, I know it damn well, you reckless bitch."

Her laugh vibrated all the way to his heart. Too much for a tough guy like him. "You know," muttered Uraraka, her hair around her, tangled, and smiling. She looked at his eyes, that everlasting shade of red that could kill millions but only shone like that for her, only her. "even if I had died during the battle, if _you_ had died– in our next life, among a crowd full of faces, I'd still choose you."

Bakugou would have spit on her before for saying such cheesy stuff. Now though, he only frowned– he just didn't know what to say. Uraraka knew about this and grinned. "And I know you can't say much right now but… I'll wait for you. Until you can tell me what you're feeling with clear words."

He smirked, this time determination showing through every fiber of his being. Maybe it was her, just paranoia or illusion– but his eyes shone brighter than ever, fire clearly burning its way to her and taking her in. He drowned in her chocolate irises, allowing himself to breath in her presence, drink in her sweetness, and then speak.

"Just you wait, roundface." spoke he, showing his fangs. "I'll be beating you hard to the ground again."

Her hand reached out to grasp his in a gentle touch. Also feeling a bit woozy, he let himself be touched so. "I can't wait… Bakugou-kun."

Her eyelids fell slowly, submerging her in a deep slumber while he stared at that precious thing– that little pain that was willing to stand on lava, make it back to him, and still smile until her cheeks hurt. This time though, he'd make sure that smile reached her eyes every time they met.

He brushed a strand of hair from her face and felt his heart squeeze at the sole notion. He was so deep in already and they weren't even dating. Bakugou allowed himself a little sigh after so much tension. His eyes twinkled at the woman by his side, a small smile still on his lips.

"Yeah… I can't wait either."

* * *

A few hours after the reunion, when the sun was rolling down and inking the sky with pink, the whole 1-A class stood before the beds, a bunch of roses for Uraraka in Kaminari's hands that everyone had bought to her, many crutches shaking upon the sight before them and Kirishima stifling a good laugh.

"What the– are Bakugou-kun and Uraraka-san holding hands?"

Tsuyu didn't seem impressed at all, and glanced at Deku, who blinked an alarming amount of times. "Did you know anything about this?"

"This is outrageous!" stated Iida, wiping his glasses clean. "Uraraka isn't even wearing a decent amount of clothes, yet our fellow classmate is too intimate with her!"

All boys titled their head for a better angle, not seeing anything out of place – much to their disappointment.

"I can't believe Bakugou-kun made a move on her and I wasn't present." sighed Kirishima, kicking his best friend's bed with his crutch. "What a lucky motherfucker."

"How long have they been an item, though?" wondered Mina, fawning over the pair with little hearts in her eyes.

"Not long enough, I'd say."

"Well who cares, they just look super-duper cute together, I had never even thought about it!"

"It's a bizarre pair at best."

"Todoroki-kun!"

"Bakugou-kun better not hurt my baby, or he'll be rotten meat!"

"Tsuyu," Deku still processing the image in front of him, tapped her shoulder. "what's happening?"

"I bet they had an incredibly romantic reencounter!"

The boys made gagging noises.

"Yeah, and who says they haven't, like right here, in the spur of a meeting, had se–"

" _WHAT THE FUCK, AOYAMA_."

* * *

 **Author's note** : I just hope this was long enough. /derp


End file.
